


It's Ok

by BBJ_3



Category: Cobra Kai, Karate Kid (Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Kisses, M/M, Moments, Pining, Proposals, Vignette, and It's OK by Tom Rosenthal, defining moments vignettes, i blame the shamy wedding, just saying, karate as foreplay, rated more for my swearing than anything else, ridiculous fluff, w/ lawrusso, which I need an mv of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2018-05-12
Packaged: 2019-05-05 14:44:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14620892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BBJ_3/pseuds/BBJ_3
Summary: Moments - flashes of collisions and separations. Dust and craters, light and darkness, but none of that mattered now. Daniel smiled, and every broken piece of Johnny's heart refracted light.





	It's Ok

**1984**

The dark-haired boy stumbled off from the latest beating, and while his friends cheered - or simply avoided eye contact, Johnny watched the hunched teen disappear down the street. Even in a crowd, he stood out. A sore New Jersey thumb in the California moonlight. With him gone, the world dimmed. All the colors left, and Johnny had to keep his legs stiff to avoid running after LaRusso. The kid didn't belong. Ali shouldn't've been slumming. Nobody should've gotten near that boy. If anyone did...

Forcing his eyes away, Johnny faked a grin, avoiding Bobby's questioning gaze. None of that mattered. Ali would stay away from Daniel now, and Daniel would know better than to get near her too. 

**1895**

A kick to the face - was that even legal? Did it even matter? Ali wanted nothing to do with him. Cobra Kai wasn't...it wasn't what Johnny had believed. Kreese loomed like the devil, whispering advice that couldn't be trusted - spouting mottoes built on inhumanity. The world moved on, but Johnny couldn't. For all his attempts to keep face, LaRusso took the trophy, nodded, and never looked back. Johnny hadn't hoped for friendship, but the asshole could at least acknowledge him when they passed in the street. If Johnny made sure they walked by each other at least once a week, that was on him. It wasn't like his life after high school was turning out great. Everything fell apart when Daniel LaRusso arrived in that stupid car.  

**1986**

Who goes to Japan? Maybe Okinawa mattered to Miyagi. Maybe it made sense for a karate champion to go to the home of his fighting style - and his sensei. LaRusso didn't even bother looking back. He wasn't even with Ali anymore. What was the whole point of their problem if LaRusso could just shrug off a breakup with someone like Ali? He didn't appreciate Ali. She was a firecracker. She deserved to be loved - just not by LaRusso. She needed to keep her hands off him. 

Johnny rested his head on the cool brick. Bottles rolled about his feet, but his hand held fast to the beer in his hand even as condensation dripped around his fingers. No amount of alcohol helped. A fucking week - it hadn't even been a month. How had he gotten into this pattern? Every week, he had to see LaRusso. Across the street. In the grocery store from behind a display. Through the shelves in the library near LaRusso's house. It started small - didn't it? Once a week - twice - now he'd missed every day. A fix - a drug he couldn't get. No LaRusso. His skin itched. His heart ached - he couldn't possibly be fond of that stupid, arrogant piece of shit. He didn't want to watch him smirk. He didn't need to see how sure he'd become around girls - and guys. 

Inhaling slowly, Johnny tried to push the image away, but the memory wouldn't be ignored. In the library on LaRusso's campus, Johnny had walked the halls. He'd been considering applying to college. He hadn't been stalking LaRusso, and if he had, he certainly hadn't expected to see LaRusso shoving his tongue down some black guy's throat. LaRusso pressed the other into the wall, which was an impressive feat considering he was a good half foot shorter. 

The bottle dropped, shattering against the ground, sending beer and glass shards around Johnny's feet. Funny - the worst part was the man looked nothing like Johnny. No use trying to even imagine himself in the same place. No hints - nothing to suggest Johnny was even LaRusso's type. Biting his lip, Johnny readjusted himself. His cock ached - pressing against the confines of his jeans. Just one night - just a kiss, fuck, a kiss and he wouldn't be able to stop.

"Please," Johnny whispered to no one in particular. A desperate whimper sent out into the universe. 

When he came on the bricks and glass with LaRusso's smirking face in his head, there was no relief.

**1897**

Kreese was back and gone, leaving disaster and disappointment in his wake. LaRusso had won again. Johnny watched from afar as his rival rose further and further. There was nothing between them now. A crane kick had left Johnny hollow, wanting and grasping for things he shouldn't. Downing the last drops of alcohol, Johnny threw the bottle, watching it fly over the cliff and plummet to smash on the ground below. Bowing his head, Johnny sighed. His chest ached. Everything hurt, but there were no injuries there. Pulling his legs up, he stood, staring down at the broken glass pile made from his six pack. The case stood empty by his feet. Kicking the cardboard over. He watched it float down and away. 

Just one step, and it would all be over. The yearning he shouldn't have. The disappointed looks. Comments about wasted potential. One kick - and he was lazy, selfish, good-for-nothing. No matter how fast he ran, Daniel would just pull further and further ahead.

Shaking his head, Johnny turned away from the cliff. Not that night.

**...**

Alcohol, women, working to the bone then drinking until there were no bones to work and his hands failed to do the work they were given, Johnny pushed away the thoughts when they came - the ones about LaRusso, and if he was still happy - still successful - still beautiful - still kind and sarcastic and stupidly brave.

Then the commercials started, and Johnny couldn't watch television. His wife happened. A son happened. Then both stopped happening - walking out the door, and Johnny didn't try to stop them. Robby would never forgive him for that. 

**2018**

Sober - painfully so - and Cobra Kai was back. The one thing Johnny could ever manage to do well. Students came. They rose - despite everyone else, LaRusso especially, trying to stop him, but in that car - singing along as if they could just go anywhere together. Side by side at the bar, thinking about the girl who brought them together. Then Robby - the kid deserved better than a fucked up dad, but that was what he'd had, and even as Johnny clawed to find some ground to stand on, he wasn't Daniel LaRusso. Bottles called - like they used to, and Johnny sat in the middle of his dojo, doing everything he could to not go get one. To be there when the sun finally came up, and his students showed up, wanting Sensei Johnny. 

Then - a knock of the door. 

Hope rose - a fist clenched around Johnny's heart. Sarcasm and bravado bounced between them. A volley of refusal to admit the simmering need. When their lips touched, the world melted away. For the first time, Johnny thought peace just might be possible. All the lies, they couldn't possibly have been so bad if they led him here. Everything was okay. It had to be okay if it led here. With a promise, they parted ways. 

But it was okay because Johnny knew - someday he was going to be with Daniel LaRusso. They were going to kiss, to fight, to cling to one another like all those chick flicks. Smiles and singing in the car. Smirks, sarcasm, and karate. 

**2019**

Impossible. After thirty-four years of Hell, the storm had finally passed. Blinking awake, Johnny smiled as the white ceiling. Heat radiated from the body sprawled beside him. Nobody could claim Daniel was as calm anywhere else as he was on the mats. Katas turned the bolt of energy into a clear circuit. Smooth flow from one move to the other. While the grace remained, most people likely didn't want to wake up in a grapple hold - gentle, graceful, loose enough to easily escape, but still a hold. Most people were stupid.

Turning his head, Johnny smiled as he curled back around Daniel. This was just their first night together, and there would be nights Daniel couldn't be here. Ones where his kids were at home with him and not with Amanda, but soon their two homes would be one. Someday, Johnny would wake up to Daniel before the dawn and walk passed Sam practicing karate or Anthony playing video games or maybe - just maybe, he would bring the kid to the dojo with him and Robby. Anthony looked at Robby like the kid hung the stars. He probably always wanted a big brother. 

"Hey," Daniel murmured into Johnny's shoulder. "Stop thinking so loud."

"Okay," Johnny replied, pressing a kiss to Daniel's forehead. 

Daniel's brown eyes blinked. So many years wasted, and Johnny wasn't wasting another minute. 

**Author's Note:**

> Still debating on continuing my other lawrusso fic (object verse) but I think I write Johnny's perspective better than Daniel's, so I'm not sure. 
> 
> Tried to remember if there was a year turnover in the first movie - correct me if my timeline was off. 
> 
>  
> 
> EDIT: I have a tumblr now - come visit at JBrendolBlack.


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